A few years ago I was writing a comment on a blog, I can’t remember if it was this site or another, but I wrote:

Nothing is more conservative than a republican wanting to get their majority back. And nothing is more liberal than a republican WITH a majority.

I liked that sentiment so much that I put it on top of the right column of Virginia Right! and it is still there.

And it is still true.

Obamacare and the Swamp

How many Congressmen and Senators in D.C. have been running and soliciting donations for years on the promise to repeal Obamacare? And now that the Republicans finally have the trifecta in Washington, House, Senate and White House, you would have to be living in a cave to not know that we have been screwed by liars like John McCain and the rest of the Fake Republicans.

Electing Donald Trump as President hasn’t seen the swamp completely drained, but the water level is definitely going down. And the biggest and most dangerous rocks that were hidden just below the surface are now in plain sight. And these establishment slime-balls have been exposed as the liars that they are.

Virginians started draining the swamp in 2014 when Eric Cantor was defeated in a primary. After years of raising money with the promise to get rid of Obamacare, the voters finally saw through Cantor’s deception. A deception Cantor readily admitted to the Washingtonian in July this year:

Asked if he feels partly responsible for their current predicament, Cantor is unequivocal. “Oh,” he says, “100 percent.”

He goes further: “To give the impression that if Republicans were in control of the House and Senate, that we could do that when Obama was still in office . . . .” His voice trails off and he shakes his head. “I never believed it.”

He says he wasn’t the only one aware of the charade: “We sort of all got what was going on, that there was this disconnect in terms of communication, because no one wanted to take the time out in the general public to even think about ‘Wait a minute—that can’t happen.’ ” But, he adds, “if you’ve got that anger working for you, you’re gonna let it be.”

It’s a stunning admission from a former member of the party leadership—that the linchpin of GOP electoral strategy for the better part of a decade was a fantasy, a flame continually fanned solely because, when it came to midterm elections, it worked. (Barring, of course, his own.

Republicans were all big talkers and raised millions and millions of dollars promising to repeal a law knowing it would never happen.

And Trump threw a monkey wrench into that by winning the election last year, essentially calling the bluff of the swamp.

Who Is Ed Gillespie?

Ed Gillespie is the Republican candidate for Governor of Virginia this year. He was in a primary race that the experts believed would see Gillespie cruse to a landslide victory. He was leading challenger Corey Stewart by 20 to 30 points in all but one poll. And he won by just over 1%. And in all of the current polls vs. Democrat Ralph Northam, Gillespie lags by an average of 7 points and has never polled ahead of the Democrat.

Gillespie has never held public office and has one political loss to show for his desire to be in office. He lost to Mark Warner by less than 1%, far closer than the nearly 10% lead Warner showed in the polls.

Ed Gillespie began his political activity as a Democrat and switched to the Republican Party in 1984. He worked for Dick Armey and was involved in the GOP’s “Contract with America”.

It was in 1997 that Gillespie turned to the “dark side” and became a lobbyist with BGR Group. (This was one of the big groups supporting establishment candidate Thad Cochran against the TEA Party candidate in 2014.)

In 1999, Gillespie went to work for the presidential campaign of John Kasich. ‘Nuff said.

In 2000 Ed went to work for George W. Bush’s campaign for president. That same year, he founded Quinn Gillespie & Associates with Democrat Jack Quinn. Enron was one of their big accounts until Enron’s financial fraud scandal led the energy company to bankruptcy.

In 2002 Gillespie worked to elect Elizabeth Dole. Again, ’nuff said.

And between short stints as Republican National Committee chairman, Gillespie server in the horrendous Bush White House that squandered the House, Senate and White House and gave us Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama.

Gillespie served as Chairman of Bob McDonnell’s election campaign that would end in disgrace and scandal and gave Virginia the largest tax increase in history.

Gillespie worked to elect Mitt Romney and also worked with American Crossroads, Carl Rove’s pro RINO PAC.

So for the last 20 years, Gillespie has been a lobbyist and has associated with some of the most hard core establishment politicians, most of which are the swamp dwellers we need to expunge from government if America will ever be great again.

Nothing is more Liberal Than a Republican With a Majority

When Ed Gillespie helped Bob McDonnell win in 2009, I worked hard for the same goal. And it was during McDonnell’s tenure that I learned just how deceiving Republicans can be with complete power.

McDonnell campaigned on privatizing the ABC stores and using the profits to pay for transportation. There was no need for a tax increase, he said. Fiscal responsibility was back in style.

After the McDonnell campaign, tax hikes were so out of favor that Tim Kaine’s proposed budget that included tax hikes were rejected unanimously in the House of Delegates. Every Democrat voted against Kaine’s budget.

But in a couple of years, Bob McDonnell turned that around. Casting aside a disdain for more taxes, McDonnell pushed through the largest tax hike in Virginia history. He even had to reach across the aisle to get some Democrats on board and gave them a number of sweetheart tax hikes to pass his own hikes.

Governor Bob McDonnell, in one of his final acts as governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, signed into law a $5.9 billion tax increase on Virginia families to fund light rail and transportation projects throughout the Commonwealth. The tax increase is the largest in the history of Virginia, edging out Democrat Governor Mark Warner’s 2004 tax increase.

Virginians will see increases in their diesel fuel taxes and the gas tax will rise with higher gas prices and inflation. Residents of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads will see increases in the local sales tax from 5 to 6 percent, increases in taxes on home sales, and increased hotel taxes. The rest of the state will experience a sales tax hike from 5 to 5.3 percent.

In addition, the legislation puts into place a regime set to collect internet sales taxes if Congress passes the Marketplace Fairness Act – currently in the House of Representatives (where, as written, it is not expected to garner enough votes to pass). If Congress is unable to pass an internet sales tax bill, Virginia residents will see fuel taxes raised even higher to make up for the promised tax collections.

Despite claims from Governor McDonnell, the massive tax increase is not a job creator and does not make the Commonwealth more attractive to small business and families looking to relocate.

Terry McAuliffe Held Largely in Check

I hear things like “we can’t take 4 more years of a Democrat governor”. But what has McAuliffe accomplished? Aside from ensuring Hillary won Virginia and refusing to cooperate with efforts to analyze the results for fraud. Sure he gave some convicts the right to vote back, but there were many in the GOP who were on board with this. Bob McDonnell was in favor of this.

McAuliffe blocked some GOP bills, but he was unable to get any of his far left agenda passed. The McDonnell induced Squishy Spine Syndrome healed itself with McAuliffe’s election. The Republican’s collective spines became rigid once again and stood fast against various McAuliffe moronic legislation.

We also see the same disease inflicting many Fake Republicans in DC since Trump became President.

Ed Gillespie. Lobbyist. RINO. Swamp-dweller.

For 20 years Gillespie has associated with the likes of Rove, the Bushes, Romney, Enron, Lobbyists and various Democrats. Donald Trump mostly endorsed him the other day in a tweet and Gillespie did not welcome the help from our president. And while Ed has tried to straddle the fence and be as non committal as possible, the warning signs are all there. Gillespie will bring Squishy Spine Syndrome back to Richmond if he were to win.

Northam = Gridlock

Oh, I’m not saying vote for Northam. The guy is about as exciting as watching hair grow. But the fact is, he is nowhere near the radical Terry McAuliffe is and will be far easier to hold in check than Terry was. True we won’t get to see a governor sign a bill that “denies women access to health care” by forcing doctors to wash their hands before they perform an abortion, or use sterile instruments. But we just have to roll the dice on that.

Trust me. If you don’t want to see another fiasco like Bob McDonnell’s Tax-portation bill, gridlock is our friend. The truth is, the Democrats will see more of their agenda implemented if Gillespie becomes governor than should Northam win.

People like Gillespie seem to have this uncontrollable urge to make Democrats and the Washington Post like them by passing liberal stuff.

But I Can’t Vote for a Democrat

Yea, me neither. But after spending the last few years working to drain the swamp, I’ll be damned if I will vote for someone I know in my heart is a clone of John McCain, Susan Coillins, the #NeverTrumppers and various alligators and snakes.

Ed Gillespie HAS NOT earned my vote and will not get my vote.

I plan to leave the governor portion of my ballot blank.

Dear Corey Stewart. Please Do Not Endorse Gillespie.

I can’t endorse Gillespie. I can’t even vote for him. And I hope the pressure on Corey isn’t so great that he allows it to override his principles. Besides, Ed Gillespie will do his utmost to undermine a Corey Stewart candidacy for Senate even if it means Tim Kaine stays.

Tom is a US Navy Veteran, owns an Insurance Agency and is currently an IT Manager for a Virginia Distributor. He has been published in American Thinker, currently writes for the Richmond Examiner as well as Virginia Right! Blog.Tom lives in Hanover County, Va and is involved in politics at every level and is a Recovering Republican who has finally had enough of the War on Conservatives in progress with the Leadership of the GOP on a National Level.

Amazing effort on netting out the issues of the 2017 Virginia gubernatorial election in clear, unequivocal language. Congratulations. In my opinion, as I have stated before, this is a “leftover” race, that is leftover candidates that are both out of sync with their evolving parties directions – for the Republicans the gathering establishment purge just underway and accelerating toward 2018 and for the Democrats the abandonment of the “clintonites” and continuation of the ongoing hard shift leftward. These are two professional politicians whose shelf life has expired and are running in a statewide election best described as one of monumental voter boredom and disinterest.

Will one win – of course, will it set any tone for future Virginia politics – NO. Trump is no factor in this race regardless of the last second frantic efforts of the failing state party to off load any Gillespie candidate failure onto the President. It will likely just come down to how many make the effort to pry themselves out of their lazyboys Nov. 7th to vote in a race few state voters care about personally or politically whether then check off a candidate box or just leave the governor’s race choice blank. It is clear a political transition is lying ahead for Virginia the nature of which appears opaque to any honest political commentator.

Thank you Tom for such an inclusive and well chronicled history of this republicrat It takes some guts to take the stand you have taken, particularly when you know the establishment types are going to vilify you personally. It is a hallmark of your integrity to simply lay out the inconvenient truth and the facts of Big Ed’s actual track record

I often wonder when that same integrity will swarm over the legions of republican apologists who continue to see elections as some sort of athletic contests, ignoring the future of Virginia being destroyed largely as a result of that child like mindset. I can not listen to the two major party candidates in this race campaign ad’s , focusing on the most base emotional appeals—who’s going to take down the monuments & statutes, who’s going to defend your second amendment rights, not a single damn word other than slogans and platitudes on the major issue facing Virginia, refusing to address the continuing Medicaid explosion , public school morass, a tax code that is nothing more than a bribery system set up to enrich their donors and patrons, the issue of Citizen Initiative and Referendum Reform.

Perhaps it is indeed nothing more than what I have long suspected, people have yet to feel the personal level of pain required to shake them from the walking slumber they are lulled into every election cycle with the ridiculous chants of ” we gotta win”. Republicrats controlled as you noted all of state government during the McDonnell administration, and I always ask this apologist crowd, just what in the hell did we win ?

The choice is very simple, either of the two big government progressives, or with a clear conscience and some of that intellectual honesty cast a ballot on the 7th for Cliff Hyra. Advancing a principle should be an easy decision since an outcome with Ralph or Big Ed isn’t going to alter or change a damn thing. Bob Shannon King William

Republican Party tyranny is State Senator Mark Obenshain and his GOPe legislators who want to pass VOTER REGISTRATION by PARTY in Virginia. ASK them… go ahead ask your delegate and senator they all say they support this bill. Shocked?

For all the dumbed down Republican voters out there – allow me to translate because many of you vote Republican blindly on election day without ever attending a County or State Republican meeting and lack any understanding their State Central Committee agenda to keep people out of the party and to prevent independents and libertarians from voting IN ELECTIONS. If Senator Mark Obenshain gets his way: The PARTY will determine ( subjectively each election) WHO CAN VOTE in their REPUBLICAN primaries and conventions and firehouse primaries or caucuses. Mark Obenshain wants to control Who can vote in Republican Primaries so he can control who WINS the nominations….. that is how they perpetually line the pockets of their political ruling class consultants like Karl Rove of the GOP SWAMP- earning millions each election cycle running campaigns while losing to DeMonCrats. Mitch McConnell spending $30 million recently in Alabama for a US Senate primary so Luther Strange could lose to Judge Roy Moore come to mind? Steve Bannon is so right to target the money in these elections.

That should scare the CRAP out of any Liberty minded Patriot in Virginia………

The Democrats won’t keep PEOPLE FROM VOTING with Voter Registration by Party in Virginia that is for sure.

and the GOP wonders why they keep losing seats in the General Assembly election cycle after election cycle.

Why isn’t Trump doing PAC and campaign finance reform? Lower taxes on the rich and Wall St. will just give them more money to throw at the K St. lobby, crooked politicians, campaigns, and PAC’s. To think that Wall St. and the rich are going to do anything to help anyone but themselves is crazy.

You really think that the drug company’s are the only ones paying politicians to have a license to kill people for profit with their opioids?

The GOP delegates and senators in VA refuse to pass ethics reform, Gene. Blame Tommy Norment and Bill Howell and now Little Cox…….. pun intended. They run the GOP Pacs and Dominion Energy is the leader in donations. go figure. Pipelines etc.

Am I the only voter in Virginia who remembers Governor SpongeBob McDonnell tried to sell the Port of Virginia to a MUSLIM NATION?

It was AG Ken Cuccinelli who had to file a lawsuit against his party’s own governor to stop McDonnell from that treasonous act. (VA Beach- world’s largest naval operation)

Ed Gillespie has never been elected to public office in his life. We have NO IDEA how a NJ Democrat turned carpetbagger RINO will govern? At least with Northam we know his record and we can live with that in a GOP controlled legislature.

Tom, i am with you on your no vote. His recent no response to Trump’s endorsement convinces me to do a write or leave a blank. i was having to swallow the bile at the thought of voting for Gillespie and was actually trying to assist him in his campaign. He is in fact one of the swamp creature. It will be important to elect Vogel and Adams and that would put some control on Northam.